In a continuing effort to improve the quality of shipping fruits, I, the inventor, typically hybridize a large number of peach, nectarine, plum, apricot, and cherry seedlings each year. The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of nectarine tree, which has been denominated varietally as ‘Western Bright’. The present variety was hybridized by me in 1996, grown as a seedling on its own root in my greenhouse, and transplanted to a cultivated area of my experimental orchard at Bradford Farms near Le Grand, Calif. in Merced County (San Joaquin Valley). The variety was developed as a first generation cross using ‘Diamond Ray’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,948) yellow flesh nectarine as the selected seed parent and an unnamed yellow flesh clingstone nectarine (unpatented) as the selected pollen parent. A single tree from the stated cross was selected as the claimed variety. Subsequent to origination of the present variety of nectarine tree, I asexually reproduced it by budding and grafting in the experimental orchard described above, and such reproduction of plant and fruit characteristics were true to the original plant in all respects. The reproduction of the variety included the use of ‘Nemaguard’ (unpatented) rootstock upon which the present variety was compatible and true to type.
The present variety is most similar to its selected seed parent, ‘Diamond Ray’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,948) nectarine, by producing nectarines that are large in size, nearly globose in shape, very firm in texture, clingstone in type, yellow in flesh color, and nearly full red in skin color, but is distinguished therefrom by having globose instead of reniform leaf glands, by having a bitter instead of sweet kernel, and by producing fruit that has less skin freckling and that ripens about 12 days earlier.